Fifth session of Supreme Court case regarding
Jehovah's
Witnesses

Judicial proceedings in the lawsuit of the
Russian Ministry
of Justice for liquidating, ruling to be extremist, and banning
the activity of
396 religious organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) in Russia
and also
confiscating their property resumed on 19 April in the Supreme
Court of the RF
after a week-long recess, a Portal-Credo.Ru correspondent reports.

The session began with the attachment to the
materials of
the case of documentary evidence of plants of "extremist
literature"
in JW houses of worship and attempts to illegally put an end to
activity of JW
congregations by representatives of law enforcement agencies. On
the basis of a
petition of the justice ministry, decisions of the Administrative
Center of
Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia regarding appointment of members of
executive
bodies of local religious organizations also were added to the
case.

After that, the court proceeded to examination
of materials
of the case. In the examination of "Foundations of the doctrine
and
practice corresponding to it of the Jehovah's Witnesses" attention
was
focused on the requirement of love for one's neighbor and
toleration, and also
about the obligation of JW "to give their children a good
education."
A new, curious detail of JW "extremist activity" was revealed:
their
brochure "Jehovah's Witnesses. Who are the? What do they believe?"
was ruled to be extremist for the mention of the fact that
Jehovah's Witnesses
do not bear arms.

A lawyer for the Ministry of Justice reported
that,
according to one of the JW documents, in Russia more than 2,000
unregistered
groups are functioning under the leadership of their
Administrative Center.

The court asked the justice ministry's lawyer
what was the
purpose of including in the case the turnover balance sheet of the
JW. The
justice ministry's lawyer explained that the balance sheet gives
evidence that
"financial means are possibly aimed at financing extremist
activity."
To the judge's question about what showed that it was on
"extremist
activity" that the money was spent and not on ordinary charter
goals, the
lawyer for the Ministry of Justice was not able to give a clear
answer. Also an
answer was not forthcoming to the question by lawyer Omelchenko to
the justice
ministry's lawyer: "Can you name specifically what sum, when, and
by whom
was it spent and what was the specific form of extremist
activity?"

Lawyer Zhenkov called the court's attention to
the state
religious studies expert analysis of the Ministry of Justice, on
the basis of
the conclusions of which the Administrative Center was registered.
The
conclusions of this expert analysis are in effect to the present.

The case also presents about 70 expert
conclusions
testifying to the absence of extremism in JW publications. Lawyer
Zhenkov
quoted the book "Humanity in search of God": "To study different
religions does not mean to betray one's own faith. On the
contrary, it may
strengthen it, when we see how other people are seeking the truth
and what this
gave to them. Knowledge gives understanding and understanding
gives tolerance
for people who have other views." Experts did not find indicators
of
extremism in the book; however the Ministry of Justice included it
in the
Federal List of Extremist Materials.

Later the decisions and judgments of courts
that have taken
effect were studied, which give evidence of the absence of
extremist tendencies
in JW publications. A short discussion arose again in the trial
about the
"prohibition of blood transfusion" in connection with examination
of
the decision of the European Court for Human Rights. Also studied
were
materials giving evidence about the falsification of evidence in a
number of
cases regarding Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.

Judge Ignatenko, who is presiding in the
trial of the case
for "liquidation" of religious organizations of Jehovah's
Witnesses
in Russia, rejected in the evening of 19 April the attachment to
materials of
the case decisions by courts regarding compulsory blood
transfusion for
patients. The lawyer for the plaintiff, the Russian Ministry of
Justice, had
petitioned to attach such decisions to the case, a
Portal-Credo.Ru
correspondent reports. In the justice ministry's statement,
which the court is
considering, the refusal by Jehovah's Witnesses of blood
transfusion figures in
the capacity of a fundamental indicator of the "extremism" of
this
confession.

The court also studied materials giving
evidence of plants
on the Jehovah's Witnesses of extremist materials by "siloviki,"
including color photographs of stop frames from surveillance
cameras.Evidence
was also reviewed that
"false evidence" is present in earlier requested materials, and
"false witnesses" gave testimony in corresponding cases.
Recently a
court in Voronezh ruled that extremist materials found tucked
under carpet
nailed to the floor in a JW house of worship clearly had been
planted on them.

The Jehovah's Witnesses' attorney in the
court Toporov
called attention to the fact that the decision for the
liquidation of the JW
religious organization in Birobidzhan was made in a judicial
proceeding with
the participation of the very same justice ministry's lawyer,
Svetlana
Borisova, who is representing her ministry in the Supreme Court
also. However
the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia,
whose liquidation
the justice ministry now seeks, was not summoned for
participation in the Birobiczhan
case, since the justice ministry acknowledged that the interests
of the center
were not affected in the case. In the current proceedings, on
the contrary, the
Ministry of Justice maintains that the decision in the
Birobiczhan case is an
argument in favor of the liquidation of the Administrative
Center of Jehovah's
Witnesses in Russia.

The court also refused to include in the
materials of the
case documents of prosecutorial warnings to the Jehovah's
Witnesses about the
"impermissibility of extremist activity" declared by the
plaintiff.
(tr. by PDS, posted 19 April 2017)

TRIAL IN THE CASE FOR "LIQUIDATION" OF
JEHOVAH'S
WITNESSES IN RUSSIA TO CONTINUE ON 20 APRIL

Judicial proceedings on the case of the
Russian Ministry of
Justice for the liquidation of all 396 religious organizations
of Jehovah's
Witnesses (JW) in Russia and for finding them "extremist" and
for
banning their activity and confiscating their property will
continue in the Supreme
Court of the RF on 20 April at 14:00, a Portal-Credo.Ru
correspondent reports.
In the opinion of observers, the petitions of the sides have
been exhausted and
the 20 April session has every chance of being the concluding
one at this stage
of the trial.

At an evening session on 19 April, Judge
Ivanenko granted
the petition of the justice ministry's lawyer for attaching to
the materials of
the case an updated excerpt from the state register with a
specific list of the
property of the JW religious organizations in Russia (which
according to the
plan of the ministry is subject to confiscation). Commenting on
this excerpt,
JW lawyers explained that it included the property that in the
past belonged to
JW organizations and subsequently was alienated.

The court denied JW their petition earlier
submitted for
viewing video recordings of plants by siloviki of extremist
materials in houses
of worship. (tr. by PDS, posted 19 April 2017)

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